Main Residence Exemption Valuations | CGT Valuations
When a home stops being wholly exempt — because it starts earning income, or because part of it always did — the CGT calculation needs a market value at a specific moment. Section 118-192 of the ITAA 1997 deems the property to have been acquired at market value on the day it was first used to produce income, and that figure has to come from an independent valuer.

What the s118-192 rule does

Section 118-192 applies when a dwelling that was your main residence — and would have been fully exempt — is first used to produce income after 20 August 1996. The law deems you to have acquired the dwelling at its market value on that date. Everything before that day is exempt; everything after is subject to CGT on the deemed cost base. Without a valuation at the changeover date, there is no defensible cost base to work from.

"You are taken to have acquired the dwelling at the time it was first used to produce income for its market value at that time."

When you need an apportionment valuation

These are the situations that bring accountants to us for a main residence valuation:

Establishing the changeover value

The effective date is usually years in the past, so the report is a retrospective valuation in method: contemporaneous comparable sales, a current inspection, and evidence describing the property as it stood at the changeover date. Where an apportionment is required we also measure and document the floor area or land area attributable to the income-producing use.

What your accountant receives

The report states the market value at the deemed acquisition date and, where relevant, sets out the apportionment percentage with the workings behind it — so the CGT calculation can be reproduced by anyone reviewing the file.

How it works — five steps

Email the property address, the relevant date, and a short note on the purpose. We return a fixed quote within 2 business hours. A Certified Practising Valuer (CPV) attends the property for an internal and external inspection. Kerbside inspections are coordinated directly with the occupier. We research settled sales using RP Data, Pricefinder, APM and council records, applying the direct comparison and, where relevant, capitalisation approaches. The report is drafted to API Professional Practice Standards and the ATO Market Valuation Practice Instruction (MVPI), with full comparable schedules and signed certification. The signed PDF is delivered to you and, if requested, directly to your accountant, solicitor or auditor within 5 business days of inspection.

FAQs

Main residence exemption questions, answered.

The questions clients, accountants and solicitors ask us most often.

Related services

Explore our other valuation services.

View all services
Establish market value at any historical date — pre-CGT, deceased estate, or change-of-purpose dates from 1985 onwards. Today's market value for transfers between related parties, SMSF in-specie contributions and family law settlements. Date-of-death market value reports for executors, probate and beneficiary cost-base resets.
Fixed fees, 5-day standard turnaround, apportionment workings included.